Storage-battery system



Oct. 2 1923.

' 1,469,736 R. H. SULLIVAN sToRAGE BATTERY SYSTEM Filed May 4, 1922 lflvemor Patentd Oct. 2, 1923.

v `1,`469,73fi PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED 'sfrA'Ti-:s

RAYMOND H. S'O'LLIVAN, OF ROCHESTEB, NEW YORK, SSIGNOR T NORTH EAST ELEC- TRIO COMPANY, OF BOCHESTEB,

NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

. STORAGE-BATTERY SYSTEM.

Appimio'n ma my 4, 1922. serial m. 558,475. i

To all whomvt 'may co'rwern:

Be it known that I, RAYuoNn H. SLLI- VAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Storage- Battery Systems; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art 'to' which it appertains to make and use' the same.

This invention relates to storage-battery systems of the type in which a batteryy is char ed by a dynamo-electric machine, and in w ich an automatic reverse-current cutout is interposed in the connections between the generator and the battery, to prevent discharge from the battery when the generator is at rest or is running too slowly to produce an eleetromotive force equal to that of the batter In tlie manufacture .of systems of the type in question, particularly for use on motorvehicles, it is convenient to use'a cut-out of standard style and size, having in its contacts and its series-winding a capacity suf- -ficient for ordinary applications. It is occasionally necessary, however, to provide for a current greater t an can be safely handled 80 by suchfstandardized cut-out, and rather than to provide a larger size of cut-out for such instances it is desirable to use two or more standard cut-outs arranged in parallel. In this arrangement difliculty is met, owing to the fact that it is impossible to adjust the plural cut-outs so exactly thatthey will all respond simultaneously to the same voltage. The result is that if the cut-outs are merely connectedin parallel in the di'rect and obvious manner, one cut-out'will always close 'i the circuit first. This results in diminishing the voltage effective upon the other cutouts, so that they do not close at all, until the battery is fully charged,'and therefore the arrangementis practicallA no better than if only .one cut-out were use The object of the 'present invention isto avoid the diflicult just pointed out. To this 'end it` is propose when using cut-outs connected in parallel, to interconnect the serieswindings of the cut-,outs -so that whenever one instrument acts to close the circuit the series-windings of'the other cut-outs will be energized, and as soon, therefore, as the flow ,of current rises to any substantial volume, all of the cut-outs will move to circuitclosing position, regardless `of their exact ad'ustment.

n the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a storagebattery system embodying the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a detail-view showing a modified connection of the cut-outs.

The invention is il'lustrated as embodied in a system in which a generator 3, of any suitable form, is connected, through main conductors 4 and 5, with the terminals of a storage-battery 6 which is tov be charged. Two cut-outs of conventional form are shown as interposed in the conductor 4:, throughtwo wires 7 and 8 iconnecting the armatures 9 of the cut-outs in parallel. The armatures cooperate with contacts 10 which are connected to the usual series-windings 11 of the cut-outs, and these windings are, in turn, connected with the main conductor through a wire 12. The cut-outs are shown as provided with the usual shunt or voltage windings 13, connected across the conductors 4 and 5, and the usual Springs 14 for controllin the armatures. The parts are so adjusted t at whenever the voltage produced by the generator reaches a predetermined amount sufficient to overcome that of the battery, the armature of one or the other 36 of the cut-outs will be moved to closed-Circuit osition b the effect of the voltagewinding 13, an thereafter the' current fiowing to the battery will traverse the serieswinding 11' and maintain the contacts in firm engagement so long as no reversal of direction occurs.

The embodiment of the present invention resides particularly in the use ofa conducvtor 15 by which the two contacts 10 are 91:5v

interconnected, thus connecting the serieswindings permanently in parallel. With this connection it will be apparent that whenever eitherV armature engages its contact 10 the current flowing to the battery will divide and flow through both series-windings, in conseuence of which the armature of the cut-out will be attracted regardless of the precise, adjustment of its spring 14, and thus both cut-outs will operate substantially at the same time. w

The same arrangement may be extended to any number of cut-outs connected in parallel, and it is not necessar to adjust more o than one of them precise y to the Critical. no

voltage: the others may all be set for a slightly higher Voltage, but will close, nevertheless, in unison With the one correctly adjusted.

In soine cases it may be more convenient to interconnect the series-Windings of the cutouts as shown in Fig. 2, where the two windings are connected in series with each other, by means of a Wire 16. The operation is the same as in the case of the arrangement first described. It will also be apparent that the use of a voltage-winding 13 on one Vonly of the cut-outs is suflicient, and the voltage-windings on the other cut-out or cutouts may be omitted, as in the case of the lower cut-out shown in Fig. 2. In this case the armature-spring of the instrument devoid of voltage-Winding should be adjusted to yield to a comparatively weak force in the magnet, althou h no exact adjustment will be necessary.` ven if the current through the series-winding be insufficient, upon first closure of the master cut-out, to operate the other cut-outs, the latter will be operated Whenever the current increases to such a degree as 'to overload the contacts of the master cut-out.

The invention claimed is:

1. A storage-battery system comprising: a generator; a storage-battery; circuit connections between the generator and the battery; and a plurality of reverse-current cutouts arranged in parallel to control said connections, the cut-outs being provided with series-windings which are interconnected so as to be energized in all the cut-outs when the contacts of one of the cut-outs are closed.

2. A storage-battery system comprising: a generator; a storage-battery; circuit connections between the generator and the battery; and a plurality of reverse-current cutouts arranged in parallel to control said connections, each cut-out bein provided with a series-winding and one, at least, with a voltage-winding; and the series windings being interconnected in parallel so as to be energized in all of the cut-outs when the generator-battery circuit is closed by one of the cut-outs RAYMOND H. SULLIVAN. 

